Allen Funk, long-time executive with The Herald in Everett, is leaving to pursue business interests on the East Coast.

In somewhat of a surprise move, Funk, who has been publisher of the daily the past 10 years, announced his departure the end of October. He came to The Herald from the parent Washington Post Co. and was advertising director for a short time, then general manager for eight years and finally publisher since 2001, when he succeeded Larry Hanson.

In a Herald story, Funk, who is the fourth generation of his family to publish a newspaper,  said, “This will be difficult for me because all I‘ve ever done is work at newspapers. My aspiration was to be a newspaper publisher.”

Chuck Lyons, chief exec of the Post division that includes The Herald, said the company will begin a nationwide search for Funk’s replacement. In the meantime, David Dadisman, Herald GM, will be in charge of day-to-day operations.

Lyons said, “One very important contribution that Allen made [was[ to keep The Herald true to its community roots. He stayed focused on the value it brought to readers, advertisers and community groups. Allen knew what a community publisher was supposed to do and he did it well.”

He plans to move to New York state and work with a relative who assists start-up businesses.

Asked to talk about his accomplishments, Funk talked instead about what he hadn’t accomplished. “One thing I’m leaving unfinished is the transformation from a print franchise to some combination of print and electronic media,” he said.

Under Funk, The Herald was a pacesetter in a Web-first philosophy in recent years, publishing stories first on Heraldnet.com and working to add more information and content in the newspaper.

The Herald also has a commercial printing division and has counted MARKETING newspaper among its clients for the past 12 years.